Skylar Grey Talks About Her New Super Bowl Spot And Her Joni Mitchell-Inspired Solo Album

There isn’t a stage in the world bigger than the Super Bowl. More than 100 million people tune in to watch two of the best teams in professional football battle it out to see who will stand tall, hoisting the Lombardi trophy in the end. Of course, for some, the game itself is an ancillary distraction. The real pull are the creative, star-packed commercials that leave just as deep an impact as anything Tom Brady or Nick Foles are capable of doing.

This year, Budweiser will air a spot highlighting the efforts to bring fresh, clean drinking water to millions of people in disaster-stricken areas like Houston and Puerto Rico. Over the past 30 years, Budweiser employees have donated over 79 million cans of water to communities hit hard by natural disasters, including three million cans in 2017 alone. Accompanying the ad will be a newly created cover of Ben E. King’s classic “Stand By Me,” put together by one of the strongest pop songwriters in the game today, Skylar Grey.

For Grey the opportunity to work on this project was a no-brainer. “It’s incredible, nothing is bigger than the Super Bowl,” she said. “So many people watch the game just for the commercials.” Because of the exposure that the single is bound to receive, and in conjunction with Budweiser’s efforts, she is donating a share of proceeds from the song to the American Red Cross.

Recently, I had the chance to talk with Grey about her latest spot with Budweiser, what it’s been like to work hand-in-hand with one of the biggest rappers on Earth, Eminem, and when we might expect to hear her next solo project.

Seems a little disingenuous to use a series of devastating events to raise your brand’s profile. It always ends up feeling like an executive is standing in rubble going, “hey, this is sad, but don’t forget about Budweiser.”